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William CurranSex Madness (1938)

This is a typical sex exploitation film from the early 1930s - complete with wild parties, sex out of wedlock, lesbianism, etc. A chorus girl's exposure to the "casting couch" also exposes her to syphilis.

Exploitation filmmakers hoped to capitalize on the taboo subjects of venereal disease, sex before marriage, lesbianism, etc. while skirting the Motion Picture Production Code of 1930 which forbade a film from containing such content. Films like this would tour the United States for years - mostly being shown in rundown, skid row theaters. This film has been re-edited and re-titled ("Human Wreckage", "They Must Be Told", "Trial Marriage", "About Trial Marriage") many times to attract the same audience to film, to take advantage of a taboo subject which may have gotten press recently or to appease local censors who disapproved of the film's content.

You can find more information regarding this film on its IMDb page.

Also, if you are interested in the rich, uniquely American history of exploitation films, there are two excellent books on the subject:

"Forbidden Fruit - The Golden Age of the Exploitation Film", Felicia Feaster and Bret Wood, Midnight Marquee Press, 1999.

"Bold! Daring! Shocking! True! A History of Exploitation Films, 1919 - 1959" Eric Schaefer, Duke University Press, 1999


This movie is part of the collection: Feature Films

Director: William Curran
Production Company: Cinema Service Corp.
Audio/Visual: sound, b&w
Keywords: exploitation; melodrama

Creative Commons license: Public Domain

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Reviewer: Robin (UK) - - August 18, 2008
Subject: Sex Film?
If they thought that was promiscuous back in 1938, what would they think now? Hell, there's more sexual inuendo's in a deordrant or choc ad on TV.

Reviewer: brsean - - August 18, 2008
Subject: Be Pure. Be Free. Be Happy.
The Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to the Fatima visionary Jacinta Marto several times between December 1919 and February 1920. Our Lady told her many things including:
"The sins of the world are very great ... If men only knew what eternity is, they would do everything in their power to change their lives."
"More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason."[1]
"Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much." [2]
"The Mother of God wants more virgin souls bound by the vow of chastity."
"Woe to women lacking in modesty."[2]
"Confession is a sacrament of mercy and we must confess with joy and trust."
"Many marriages are not of God and do not please Our Lord."
"Our Lady can no longer uphold the arm of Her Divine Son which will strike the world. If people amend their lives, Our Lord will even now save the world, but if they do not, punishment will come."
"Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from Her and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Ask them to plead for peace from the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for the Lord has confided the peace of the world to Her."
"People must renounce sin and not persist in it, as has been done until now. It is essential to repent greatly."

NOTES
1. "More souls go to Hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason." Sr Lucia, the last living Fatima seer, said this refers primarily to sins against chastity, also called sins of impurity. The reason for this statement is not because sins against chastity are the most grevious sins, but the most common and, as Sr Lucia stated, "because of conscience," since sins of impurity are less likely to be repented of than other sins. Why? 1) because the sense of injustice committed, which is the primary stimulus to repent of one's sins, is not strongly felt when engaging in them, with the exception of adultery; 2) there is a greater sense of shame when committing certain impure acts and hence greater difficulty confessing them in the sacrament of confession, or even repenting of them in one's heart; 3) sexual activity of all kinds is presented by our post-Christian -- even anti-Christian -- popular culture as natural and good, and sexual abstinence is even taught to be unhealthy. The sixth commandment, relating to chastity, has always been called "the difficult commandment." Today, with pornography everywhere and women and girls dressing more immodestly than ever, it can be almost called "the impossible commandment." However, Jesus assures us: "What is impossible with men is possible with God." (Lk 18:27) We may add that all who invoke the Blessed Virgin Mary for help in overcoming sins of impurity, will receive the grace to do so, as she herself has revealed to St Bridget of Sweden and various other saints. And those who strive to live chaste lives know from experience, when sins of impurity are humbly repented of and confessed, a great burden is removed from our consciences, and we know peace of soul.
2. Jacinta, before she died, said Our Lady had told her that certain fashions would be introduced that would greatly offend Our Lord. Saint John Chrysostom instructed women of all times about dress when in the fourth century he declared: "You carry your snare everywhere and spread your nets in all places. You allege that you never invited others to sin. You did not, indeed, by your words, but you have done so by your dress and your deportment. ... When you have made another sin in his heart, how can you be innocent? Tell me, whom does this world condemn? Whom do judges punish? Those who drink poison or those who prepare it and administer the fatal potion? You have prepared the abominable cup, you have given the death dealing drink, and you are more criminal than are those who poison the body; you murder not the body but the soul. And it is not to enemies you do this, nor are you urged on by any imaginary necessity, nor provoked by injury, but out of foolish vanity and pride." The late Father Bernard A. Kunkel, a great defender of modesty and decency, said concerning the words of Our Lady of Fatima: "She knew that ... forces of evil would design these fashions, together with the filthy literature...movies and television shows, dope, and drinking to excess; all as part of their program to break down morality, especially among the young people. Our Lady was only exposing this plan."

For more information see www.wafusa.org; also "Our Lady of Fatima" here at archive.org

Reviewer: Seto-Kaiba_Is_Stupid - - August 6, 2008
Subject: DON'T ENCOURAGE THEM!!
Hi, I'm Yugi Moto, and this film is more boring than watching paint dry.

Reviewer: HistoryTeacher - - August 6, 2008
Subject: I downloaded it because...
...its history. More specifically, it is an important little bit of 20th Century American social history, and this is one of the "original source documents" of that field.

So there. :-)

Reviewer: mohamed3laa - - May 17, 2008
Subject: looooooooool
??????????????? ???????????

Reviewer: 温柔刺刀 - - April 5, 2008
Subject: 有人能看懂我写的什么吗？
我不太看得明白这里的文字，那么，你们能看懂我的吗？！

Reviewer: Robin_1990 - - March 20, 2008
Subject: Stinks
Why do people download this crap when there are classics like "The Kid" and "Nosferatu" available on the Internet Archive? Are you people INSANE?!?!

Note: This is NOT a porn film. But even sex couldn't make this good.

Reviewer: abdo299 - - January 23, 2008
Subject: thank you
i need downlood this film

Reviewer: ashu_eureka - - August 6, 2007
Subject: Download ??
Can anyone tell me how to dowload it ??

Reviewer: dr_megoo - - May 30, 2007
Subject: sasa
thxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reviewer: 61111 - - April 13, 2007
Subject: dfdsfdsfd
sdfsssssssssssssex_madness

Reviewer: jhfaris - - February 21, 2007
Subject: haloooooooo
thankkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkks

Reviewer: SHEROOXP - - February 21, 2007
Subject: GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD
THANKS 4 YOUR EFFORT

Reviewer: ahmadmb - - February 5, 2007
Subject: Irresistable!
Ridiculous plot , technically inept and incredibly bad acting ; so who could ask for anything more?

Reviewer: gratefulviewer - - February 5, 2007
Subject: Not worth waiting.
I downloaded this movie, and saw part of it, hoping to get a few chuckles, or watch something mildly interesting. After about 20 minutes I gave up. It's awful from every perspective. Excruciatingly boring, paper-thin and distasteful characters, and inept directing, to name a few. I gave it two stars because I did not watch the full 57 minutes, and I guess it is possible (although I really doubt it) that things got better after I stopped watching.

Reviewer: petrov1 - - January 4, 2007
Subject: tert
heppy

Reviewer: ahltheking - - December 17, 2006
Subject: i can't see this film but it would be fantastique
i can't see this film but it would be fantastique

bye!!!

Reviewer: elnaggar_ncs - - November 29, 2006
Subject: thanxxxxxxxxxxxx
thanxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Reviewer: sahood129 - - November 23, 2006
Subject: tanks
it is good to be hellped

Reviewer: mtk_mtk - - November 20, 2006
Subject: Thinks
Goooooooooood & Windrfull

Reviewer: fingonek - - October 24, 2006
Subject: Why is this flick so often downloaded?
I am wondering why is this picture so often downloaded. I suppose that's because the most of people are awaiting porn. They will be disappointed. I excepted old movie from thirties. I've got BAD old movie from thirties.

Reviewer: aliali - - August 26, 2006
Subject: sex madness
ali ali sexy

Reviewer: wizo - - August 25, 2006
Subject: hi
bhkohpopo

Reviewer: joeditt - - April 5, 2006
Subject: Totally different director names & production years!
Why am I told here the director was William Curran, while Imdb (under the link officially posted above) claims it was Dwain Esper?

And why, if it is the same movie (or is this difference only result of the re-naming & re-touring procedures?), does Imdb state the year of production was 1938 instead of 1930?

Reviewer: faitherman - - March 6, 2006
Subject: thanks
thanks

Reviewer: LaMarr Bruister - - January 2, 2006
Subject: Sex Madness
A very bad exploitation film directed by Dwain Esper attempting to deal with the controversial issue of syphilis.

While just as poorly made as "Reefer Madness" (which was released two years prior under the title "Tell Your Children"), "Sex Madness" isn't nearly as funny as that film, nor is it as funny as two other famous Dwain Esper exploitation films: "Marihuana" and "Maniac."

There are some moments of unintentional hilarity, but mainly, "Sex Madness" is a very dull and slow-moving film.

Check it out if you must, but I would recommend seeing "Marihuana" and "Maniac" instead, if you haven't already (by the way, why aren't these titles on the Internet Archive?)

Reviewer: agmasd - - December 24, 2005
Subject: wow of old
i never seen befor thankx

Reviewer: DisguisedAsASquirrel - - December 18, 2005
Subject: I can't stand up.
My wife will know I'm looking at porn online.

Get this!

Reviewer: Christine Hennig - - November 14, 2005
Subject: How You Gonna Keep 'Em Down on the Farm After They've Had VD?
This is more of a soap opera than an exploitation film. Small-town girl Millie wins a beauty contest and gets to go to New York City, leaving her fiance Wendell behind at home. After the contest is over, she has stars in her eyes and tries to Make It Big. Unfortunately, she quickly lands on the street with no job, no money, and no prospects, so she falls for the pitch of a 'theatrical agent,' lands on the casting couch, and ends up with syphilis. Now she can't go home and marry Wendell, so she must drown her sorrows in her job as a chorus girl in a burlesque show. Fortunately, a kindly doctor puts her in the hospital and gives her effective treatments for the disease. Eventually, she is well enough to go home, but under strict orders to continue the treatments with a doctor at home and not marry Wendell until she is completely cured. She follows doctor's orders, going to a neighboring town for the treatments and keeping her condition a secret from her family and Wendell. But when Wendell pressures her to get married, she falls for the pitch of a quack doctor who promises to cure her in 30 days. She marries Wendell, and they have a baby, but soon the baby gets desperately ill, and Wendell discovers he doesn't see too good anymore. What's a poor girl to do? There is plenty of tear-jerking and scenery-chewing in this film, as well as uniformly bad acting, bottom-of-the-barrel production values, lots of preaching about the evils of 'social diseases,' a silly 'ironic' subplot involving the son of the local anti-sex crusader coming down with syphilis (d'oh!!), and a couple of creepy moments where lesbianism and child molestation are hinted at in leering ways. Mostly, though, this is a real weeper, lacking the energy of Reefer Madness or the goofiness of Assassin of Youth, but making up for it in preachiness.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: *****. Weirdness: ****. Historical Interest: *****. Overall Rating: ****.

Reviewer: wilson126a - - November 14, 2005
Subject: a lesson not learnt
the film is a lesson of that time period which relates to today except we are fighting Aids. the acting i believe was average for the time period.

Reviewer: Spuzz - - November 1, 2005
Subject: Beds are for action! Not for relaxation!
Sure there are camp moments in Sex Madness, a film which somehow tries to gain the notoriety that "Reefer Madness" has but fails despite having tons of elements that should point in its favor.

In the beginning it starts off strongly, with all sorts of people going to a burlesque show (and jamming the auditorium up!). This show is probably the highlight of the movie, plenty of silly dancing, no nudity, and clunky choreography. I liked the personalities that showed up for this. A group of randy boys looking to party, a lesbian couple who can't stop pawing each other, and a man who gets all worked up he rapes the first girl he sees. Funny, but ALL of these plot lines get dropped for Millicent (!!), a dancer in the chorus, who finds out she has VD from her doctor. After taking a tour which she's all chipper about seeing icky cases of VD, she goes into treatment, carefully hiding it away from her fiance. After going home and seeing another doctor who gives her a quack cure, she marries and.. well you can guess the rest. Rest assured that as foul as it sounds, it drags somewhat, and is nowhere as memorable as "Reefer ", (admittedly, I thought It was going to be of the same looniness). It's okay for some laughs, but doesn't hold up.

Reviewer: subet - - August 27, 2005
Subject: Looks good
I wanna watch it.

Reviewer: swaltonb2003 - - July 12, 2005
Subject: Irresistable!
Ridiculous plot , technically inept and incredibly bad acting ; so who could ask for anything more?

Credits

Screenplay: Joseph Seiden and Vincent Valentini

With Vivian McGill, Rose Tapley, Al Rigeli, Stanley Barton, Linda Lee Hill.